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Mara Santangelo (born 28 June 1981) is a former tennis player from Italy and Grand Slam champion in doubles, winning 2007 French Open. As single player, she won a decisive match in the final Italy vs Belgium against Kirsten Flipkens allowing her national team to win for the first time the 2006 Fed Cup.
She took a set from top-seeded Amélie Mauresmo in the third round of the 2006 US Open, and led 2–0 in the deciding set, only to lose the next six games. She also defeated Anastasia Myskina in 2006, her first win over a top-20 player. She and her Italian teammates Francesca Schiavone, Flavia Pennetta, and Roberta Vinci beat the Belgium team 3–2 in the 2006 Fed Cup final. Justine Henin had to retire in the fifth and final match because of an injury in her right knee, which let Italy win their first Fed Cup trophy. Italy wins the Fed Cup for the first time , fedcup.com, 17 September
Despite holding match points in both matches, Santangelo lost to Agnieszka Radwańska and Dinara Safina in successive first rounds at Luxembourg and Stuttgart respectively, in three set matches. In Moscow, Santangelo lost in the first round to Iveta Benešová in another three-setter. In Linz, Santangelo defeated Alona Bondarenko; she lost to eventual semifinalist Nicole Vaidišová. At her final tournament of the year in Hasselt, Santangelo retired while 5–2 down against Michaëlla Krajicek in the first round. She ended the year ranked world No. 31, a new career high.
Santangelo was still recovering from injury when 2007 commenced. At her first tournament in Hobart, she defeated countrywoman Maria Elena Camerin in the first round, losing to Catalina Castaño in the second round. At the Australian Open, Santangelo drew then-world No. 81 eventual champion Serena Williams in the first round, losing in two sets. She reached her first quarterfinal of the year at the Tier IV Pattaya City tournament, losing to Sania Mirza in straight sets. At her very next tournament, the Tier III Bangalore, as the defending champion, Santangelo made the final for the second straight year, where she lost to Yaroslava Shvedova in the final.
In Doha during the second round, Santangelo faced fellow countrywoman Francesca Schiavone, and led 6–4, 6–6 (6–5), but lost 6–4, 6–7, 0–1 ret., after dropping a match point. She rebounded during her next tournament, however, in Key Biscayne, defeating Jelena Janković in the third round in three sets – which was the first top 10 victory of her career. She lost in the round of 16 to Anna Chakvetadze. Reaching the fourth round of Key Biscayne has thus far been the best showing of Santangelo's in a high-tier event.
During the clay court season, Santangelo defeated Nadia Petrova in the second round of Warsaw, for her second career top-10 victory, reaching her third quarterfinal of the year. She lost to eventual champion Henin. At the French Open, in singles, Santangelo reached the third round, losing to eventual champion Henin. For doubles, however, partnering Alicia Molik, she won the championship, winning her first Grand Slam title. The victory was her fourth title in doubles for the year, with four different partners at each championship.
In 2007 Wimbledon Championships, Santangelo was defeated in round three by the defending champion and fourth-seeded, Amélie Mauresmo, in 57 minutes. Santangelo took part in the 2007 Fed Cup final, where she was defeated by Svetlana Kuznetsova in the second rubber and by Elena Vesnina in the fourth rubber; Italy failed in defending the title and Russia won the trophy with a 4–0 score. Santangelo had to miss the warm-ups for the Australian Open and the Australian Open itself in 2008 because of a troublesome left foot injury. She also missed the Paris indoors event and the Bangalore Open event, where she had previously won a WTA-level title and been a runner-up.
Santangelo returned from eight-month left foot injury lay-off in May; she reached the second round twice (including the 2008 Wimbledon Championships) and she won two ITF tournaments, Biella and Ortisei. At the Beijing Olympics, she was defeated by Dinara Safina in the first round.
In 2009, once again plagued by her foot injury, Santangelo won three doubles tournaments, all of them partnering Nathalie Dechy: Auckland Open where they defeated Nuria Llagostera Vives and Arantxa Parra Santonja, the Monterrey Open with a two-sets win over Iveta Benešová and Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová and, finally, Strasbourg, defeating Claire Feuerstein and Stéphanie Foretz with a 6–0, 6–1 score. On 6 September, partnering Laura Olivieri, she won the 2009 European Beach Tennis Championships with a straight-sets win over the defending champions, Simona Briganti and Rossella Stefanelli. 2009 European Beach Tennis Championships completed, itf.com, 8 September 2009
In May 2010, Santangelo announced her decision to compete in doubles events only, citing her recurrent left foot injury as the main cause that persuaded her to renounce to play singles matches.[3], 26 May 2010 On 28 January 2011, she declared her retirement from professional tennis due to recurring injuries with her left foot.
Santangelo is a Catholic Church. In 2010, she went on a pilgrimage to Our Lady of Medjugorje, and has been vocal about her faith since then. Santangelo has written an autobiography, Te lo prometto (I promise you), based on her tennis career and spiritual life.
| 7–6(7–5), 6–4 |
| Grand Slam |
| Tier I |
| Tier II |
| Tier III (1–1) |
| Tier IV & V |
| Win | 1–0 | Feb 2006 | Bangalore Open | Hard | Jelena Kostanić | 3–6, 7–6(7–5), 6–3 |
| Loss | 1–1 | Feb 2007 | Bangalore Open | Hard | Yaroslava Shvedova | 4–6, 4–6 |
| Grand Slam (1–0) | |
| Tier I (1–0) | Premier Mandatory (0–0) |
| Tier II (2–1) | Premier 5 (0–0) |
| Tier III (1–0) | Premier (0–0) |
| Tier IV & V (1–2) | International (3–0) |
| Win | 1–0 | Oct 2004 | Hasselt | Hard (i) | Jennifer Russell | Nuria Llagostera Vives Marta Marrero | 6–3, 7–5 |
| Loss | 1–1 | Oct 2004 | Tashkent Open | Hard | Marion Bartoli | Adriana Serra Zanetti Antonella Serra Zanetti | 6–1, 3–6, 4–6 |
| Loss | 1–2 | Aug 2005 | Stockholm | Hard | Eva Birnerová | Émilie Loit Katarina Srebotnik | 4–6, 3–6 |
| Win | 2–2 | Feb 2007 | Pattaya City | Hard | Nicole Pratt | Chan Yung-jan Chuang Chia-jung | 6–4, 7–6(7–4) |
| Win | 3–2 | Apr 2007 | Amelia Island | Clay | Katarina Srebotnik | Anabel Medina Garrigues Virginia Ruano Pascual | 6–3, 7–6(7–4) |
| Win | 4–2 | May 2007 | Rome | Clay | Nathalie Dechy | Tathiana Garbin Roberta Vinci | 6–4, 6–1 |
| Win | 5–2 | Jun 2007 | French Open | Clay | Alicia Molik | Katarina Srebotnik Ai Sugiyama | 7–6(7–5), 6–4 |
| Loss | 5–3 | Aug 2007 | Los Angeles | Hard | Alicia Molik | Květa Peschke Rennae Stubbs | 0–6, 1–6 |
| Win | 6–3 | Aug 2007 | New Haven | Hard | Sania Mirza | Cara Black Liezel Huber | 6–1, 6–2 |
| Win | 7–3 | Jan 2009 | Auckland | Hard | Nathalie Dechy | Nuria Llagostera Vives Arantxa Parra Santonja | 4–6, 7–6(7–3), 12–10 |
| Win | 8–3 | Mar 2009 | Monterrey Open | Hard | Nathalie Dechy | Iveta Benešová Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová | 6–3, 6–4 |
| Win | 9–3 | May 2009 | Strasbourg | Clay | Nathalie Dechy | Claire Feuerstein Stéphanie Foretz | 6–0, 6–1 |
| $100,000 tournaments |
| $75,000 tournaments |
| $50,000 tournaments |
| $25,000 tournaments |
| $10,000 tournaments |
| Win | 1. | 14 August 2000 | ITF Aosta, Italy | Clay | Andreea Ehritt-Vanc | 1–6, 6–0, 6–1 |
| Win | 2. | 27 August 2000 | ITF Cuneo, Italy | Clay | Edith Nunes | 6–2, 3–6, 6–3 |
| Loss | 3. | 24 June 2002 | ITF Fontanafredda, Italy | Clay | Alona Bondarenko | 3–6, 0–6 |
| Win | 4. | 25 August 2002 | Infond Open, Slovenia | Clay | Edina Gallovits-Hall | 6–2, 6–3 |
| Loss | 5. | 8 September 2002 | ITF Fano, Italy | Clay | Flavia Pennetta | 6–3, 4–6, 0–6 |
| Loss | 6. | 20 October 2002 | Open de Touraine, France | Hard (i) | Camille Pin | 6–2, 3–6, 0–6 |
| Win | 7. | 2 February 2003 | ITF Ortisei, Italy | Carpet (i) | Sofia Arvidsson | 2–6, 6–2, 6–2 |
| Win | 8. | 29 March 2005 | ITF Poza Rica, Mexico | Hard | Ryōko Fuda | 3–6, 6–2, 6–0 |
| Win | 9. | 26 April 2005 | ITF Taranto, Italy | Clay | Kira Nagy | 6–1, 6–0 |
| Loss | 10. | 23 October 2005 | Open Saint Raphael, France | Hard (i) | Maret Ani | 3–6, 5–7 |
| Win | 11. | 20 July 2008 | ITF Biella, Italy | Clay | Jelena Kostanić Tošić | 6–3, 6–1 |
| Win | 12. | 19 October 2008 | ITF Ortisei, Italy | Carpet (i) | Kristina Barrois | 6–3, ret. |
| Loss | 1. | 16 August 1998 | Alghero, Italy | Hard | Laura Dell'Angelo | Alessia Lombardi Elena Pioppo | 6–3, 2–6, 4–6 |
| Win | 2. | 14 September 1998 | Reggio di Calabria, Italy | Clay | Katia Altilia | Andreea Ehritt-Vanc Elena Pioppo | 7–6(3), 4–6, 6–4 |
| Win | 3. | 26 September 1999 | Horb, Germany | Clay | Rewa Hudson | Eva Fislová Andrea Šebová | 6–2, 6–2 |
| Loss | 4. | 30 August 1999 | Zadar, Croatia | Clay | Natasha Galouza | Jana Macurová Olga Vymetálková | 1–6, 3–6 |
| Win | 5. | 13 September 1999 | Biograd na Moru, Croatia | Clay | Natasha Galouza | Silvia Uríčková Eva Fislová | 6–2, 6–2 |
| Win | 6. | 4 October 1999 | Girona, Spain | Clay | Maria Wolfbrandt | Marina Escobar Rocia Gonzalez | 6–7(3), 6–1, 6–3 |
| Win | 7. | 10 April 2000 | Hvar, Croatia | Clay | Marijana Kovačević | Zuzana Hejdová Petra Kučová | 6–3, 4–6, 6–3 |
| Loss | 8. | 30 April 2000 | Cerignola, Italy | Clay | Maria Elena Camerin | Maria Boboedova Liudmila Nikoyan | walkover |
| Win | 9. | 20 August 2000 | Aosta, Italy | Clay | Maria Elena Camerin | Oana-Elena Golimbioschi Andreea Ehritt-Vanc | 7–5, 4–6, 6–1 |
| Win | 10. | 27 August 2000 | Cuneo, Italy | Clay | Maria Elena Camerin | Silvia Disderi Anna Floris | 7–5, 6–2 |
| Win | 11. | 3 September 2000 | Spoleto, Italy | Clay | Maria Elena Camerin | Oana-Elena Golimbioschi Andreea Ehritt-Vanc | w/o |
| Win | 12. | 30 September 2000 | Tbilisi, Georgia | Clay | Mariana Díaz Oliva | Jolanda Mens Alena Paulenková | 4–6, 6–3, 6–2 |
| Loss | 13. | 21 July 2003 | Innsbruck, Austria | Clay | Melinda Czink | Kira Nagy Maria Wolfbrandt | 4–6, 6–4, 4–6 |
| Loss | 14. | Bronx Open, United States | Hard | Selima Sfar | Yuliya Beygelzimer Tatiana Poutchek | 4–6, 5–7 | |
| Win | 15. | Open Denain, France | Clay | Antonella Serra Zanetti | Yuliya Beygelzimer Tatiana Poutchek | 7–5, 6–3 | |
| Win | 16. | 12 October 2003 | Latina, Italy | Clay | Roberta Vinci | Maret Ani Libuše Průšová | 3–6, 6–2, 6–4 |
| Win | 17. | 2 April 2005 | Poza Rica, Mexico | Hard | Seda Noorlander | Daniela Klemenschits Sandra Klemenschits | 6–2, 4–6, 6–3 |
| Win | 18. | Prostějov, Czech Republic | Clay | Yuliya Beygelzimer | Dája Bedáňová Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová | 6–1, 4–6, 6–2 | |
| Win | 19. | 3 August 2008 | Rimini, Italy | Clay | Roberta Vinci | Stefanie Vögele Kathrin Wörle | 6–1, 6–4 |
| Australian Open | Q3 | 4R | 1R | 3R | 1R | A | 1R | 5–5 |
| French Open | Q1 | 1R | 1R | 2R | 3R | 1R | 1R | 3–6 |
| Wimbledon | Q2 | 1R | 2R | 1R | 3R | 2R | Q1 | 4–5 |
| US Open | 1R | 1R | 1R | 3R | 1R | A | A | 2–5 |
| Australian Open | 1R | QF | 1R | 1R | A | SF | 7–5 |
| French Open | 2R | 1R | 2R | W | 1R | 1R | 8–5 |
| Wimbledon | 3R | 2R | 2R | SF | 1R | 1R | 8–6 |
| US Open | 1R | 1R | 2R | 3R | 2R | A | 4–5 |
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